Ankur Khanna quits as CFO of AirAsia India

Admin| Jan 25, 2017 - 11:03 PM
India

MUMBAI: Air Asia India’s Chief Financial Officer Ankur Khanna, who was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to alleged financial wrongdoing at the airline under its earlier head, has resigned barely 10 months after joining the airline, said a person close to the development.

“He is serving a threemonth notice period currently,” said the person, refusing to be identified. An email sent to AirAsia India and AirAsia Berhad didn’t yield any response.

The Malaysian low­fare carrier and Tata Sons own 49% each in the airline. The remaining 2% is owned by Chairman S Ramadorai and Director R Venkataramanan. Rumours of Khanna stepping down had been doing the rounds since December. An AirAsia India spokesperson had then said Khanna was “very much” the CFO of AirAsia India.

Khanna’s name hasn’t featured in any allegations of financial bungling or management issues at AirAsia India. A senior official at the ED confirmed he was summoned solely because of his position as finance chief at the airline. Khanna joined AirAsia India in April, 2016, according to his profile on Linkedin.

Before that he had been regional finance director at Air France where he had been since 1999.

In two years of operations, AirAsia India has lost or replaced about 10 top executives.

The case against the airline has been registered by the ED, a law enforcement body that investigates economic crimes under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA),1999.

The ED had summoned Khanna, in a letter dated December 5, to appear before it on December 14. The airline management had sought more time to appear.

Khanna appeared before the ED in December and assisted the directorate with documents for the investigation, said the senior official.

In the summons, the ED asked for the joint venture agreement between Tata Sons and AirAsia Berhad, and related documents and balance sheet for the year ending March 31, 2016, details of foreign remittances received by AirAsia towards equity participation, period of appointment of its previous CEO Mittu Chandilya, aircraft leasing agreements and their details.